Chatham woman's death third exposure-related fatality this season

December 27, 2011

A Chatham neighborhood woman who died Saturday after being found outside perished in part from cold exposure, authorities said Monday.

An autopsy on Toya Bey, who was in her 50s, determined the primary cause of death was heart disease, but cold exposure is listed as a contributing cause, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. Bey's death outside her home, in the 8200 block of South Wabash Avenue, was ruled an accident.

Bey is at least the third person in Cook County to die in part from the cold this season.